Verona tries not to let the bedbugs bite: Laning Avenue School treated for the pests

Frank Mortimer is a Bergen County beekeeper and president of the Northeast NJ Beekeepers Association. In this video, filmed at his Upper Saddle River beehives, he talks about his interest in bees and what the stinging insects do in their hives.
Kevin R. Wexler/NorthJersey.com

For the second time in under two months, Laning Avenue School in Verona has been inspected for bedbugs.

Unlike the March check, however, Assured Environment’s bedbug-sniffing dog detected a small number of the insects isolated in certain classrooms on Thursday, April 26, according to Schools Superintendent Rui Dionisio.

The New York City-based service contractor steamed, vacuumed and cleaned the infected areas that evening, followed by a canine reinspection the following Saturday.

“Due to the specialized dog’s keen sense of smell, canines can detect bed bugs throughout the entire building, including behind walls, thus making the inspection more thorough and accurate,” Dionisio stated in a letter to parents and the community.

“Laning Avenue School no longer has any bed bugs, and the matter has been resolved,” the superintendent stated.

“We recognize the issue of bed bugs in a school can be emotional and generate anxiety in parents, students and staff,” Dionisio noted.

Following the recent incident, the Verona School District’s physician, Dr. Richard Cirello, affirmed that bedbugs, unlike ticks or lice, do not latch onto people. They also do not transmit disease, Cirello reported.

Bedbug bites leave a small mark that may itch, but are not a public health concern or hazard. In rare cases, they may cause an allergic reaction with a small rash, according to the doctor.

Dionisio could not be reached Tuesday for further comment.

In mid-March, an inspection for bedbugs at Laning Avenue School found no sign of the pests, but the insects were discovered in two isolated areas in Verona High School at that time.

The high school was quickly treated and cleared of an infestation, according to the administration.

Bedbugs prefer beds

Head lice and bedbugs are six-legged insects, but comparisons end there, Changlu Wang, an associate extension specialist at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, told NorthJersey.com after the previous high school outbreak.

In color, head lice are pale yellow or white, while bedbugs are dark red, dark brown, or dark yellow, the professor said. Adult bedbugs are also bigger than head lice, noted Wang.

Head lice are more common in schools than bedbugs, Wang contended.

They can easily spread from one child to another, nestling in their heads. They are combated with special over-the-counter shampoos for children, along with washing children's clothes and bed sheets.

Bedbugs, on the other hand, are prevalent in places where people sleep, “making a likelihood of staying in a school low,” Wang observed.

These pests cling to beds and sofas, not found as much in schools, according to Wang.

The insects ride to school via children’s clothing and backpacks, which usually go back home. Washing clothes and other fabrics helps, but so does steam-cleaning sofas in residences, the professor recommended.